The plague of gun violence in our country, highlighted by tragic mass shootings at schools and in other places, has sparked renewed attention on the presence of the approximately 270 to 310 million privately owned legal and illegal guns and their use in the United States. As the debate proceeds on current and future public policy, the discussion involves deep consideration of gun laws, gun possession, gun rights and gun safety. This issue of the Journal of Lutheran Ethics explores the reality of guns and their use in our society from a variety of perspectives and invites us to reflect on where we stand on this important moral issue and why.
